This is welcome news to local publishers that have been hurt by Facebook's recent push to put user-generated content first, and content from publishers second. Facebook considers sources as local news publishers if "people in those cities are more likely than the people outside of those cities to read articles from the publisher’s domain." So if your brand fits these guidelines, rejoice!

We expect that this push will encourage more blogs and publications to create local content to increase traffic. Additionally, Facebook has been making an active attempt to bring Facebook back to its roots by promoting local and user-submitted content, and promoting civic engagement. We expect the local-first trend to continue throughout 2018.

It's not yet clear if Facebook will further penalize national news publishers after this update.